If you watched MAX’s latest music video for “Love Me Less,” you might have noticed that there are a few clues in there about his real life! We spoke to this ‘young pop god’ about how the song inspired the video, the yellow roses throughout the video, how he met Quinn XCII, a little about the monkey stuffed animals shown in the video, and MORE!

Check out our interview with MAX below:

You’ve openly said that “Love Me Less” was inspired by the insecurities and weird traits that open up after being married as well as an unhappy ex who threatened your wife, Emily. How did the inspiration behind the song inspire the music video? It seems like you reenacted that story a bit.

The video definitely tells pieces of stories throughout my life with past relationships! I wanted the song to truly come to life within the colorful and distinct world. I’m planning to keep building out that specific vibe and world into more videos coming next!

How did you meet Quinn XCII? His part of the song went with “Love Me Less” so effortlessly!

We actually met through mutual collaborators and friends. The same guys who produced love me Less, Imad & Roget, worked on a bunch of Quinn’s stuff. He heard the record and texted me asking if I’d be down to have him try a verse and I said OF COURSE. He nailed it and I couldn’t be happier with how much more magic he brought to it.

In a live stream that Emily did via Instagram with you painting her toenails, (adorable) it was mentioned that the monkeys actually resemble some monkey stuffed animals you used to own! Were there any other hidden messages that were inspired by real life events in the video?

Yeah, the monkeys were certainly based off of real life! Really every piece was based off of real life events. Me being a hot mess, my parents not loving some of the girls I had past relationships with and being happy to see me move on, the thought of the exes wanting to kill the inner child in me that was represented through the different awkward stage photos.

What was it like working with family and friends on set? We love that your parents and wife are the ones who played your actual parents and wife, and that your ex in the video was a close friend of yours.

It was AWESOME! I love when I can involve people I really love and care about in my work. Makes it even more natural and allows us to already be that comfortable with each other. “Jane” was played by one my best friend Allie Stamler and the fact that we’re best friends made it so much easier to bring the story to life in the way I imagined it.

How hard was it to find all the yellow items for the music video? What took the longest to find? We remember either you or Emily saying that it was hard to yellow clothes at the NYC fan event!

Well my wife Emily styled all of the wardrobe which was definitely a hard job to find all of the great pieces and then the set decorations team KILLED IT for all of the yellow and blue pieces they chose which I’m sure was a challenge!

What’s the meaning behind the color yellow in this era? Why did you choose that color to represent this era so far?

Yellow just brings joy, hope, electricity in my mind. That’s what I want to feel every day. That’s what I want my music to make people feel. And that’s what I hope people will one day look back on this era of my music as when this album comes out!

At your fan event in NYC, you gave out yellow roses to everyone, and we noticed lots of yellow roses in the background of the video! Can you hint to us what the yellow roses mean/what they stand for? Will we be seeing more?

You just might be seeing more of them for sure ;-) They come from a personal place, but I also want them to mean whatever anyone wants them to mean to them.

So we noticed a lot of blue too! Will we be seeing different colors that mean something unique throughout this new era? That color combo is so stunning and vibrant.

Definitely planning to have very distinct colors that go along with the yellow for each single that reflects that story.

In the video you include photos of your younger self. Were the photos randomly chosen? Or did each one mean something important/hold a significant memory for you?

I chose them all because they were all from mostly my awkward stage when I was finding who I was, had braces, all of the things that made the most insecure as a kid.

When fans listen to your upcoming new album, what do you hope they feel/get out of it?

I hope the music gives them hope, that they feel their energy within it, that they connect with others through the stories on the album. I want them to feel a burst of energy once they’ve finished listening to the entire project.

What are some of the most rewarding things a fan has told you when it came to your music? (If any, or multiple fans.)

Well anytime someone gets married to one of the songs like “Lights Down Low” or says that a song was their special song as a couple it means everything. I know that feeling as a fan with my wife and the albums and songs we listened to and we’ll always remember that music associated with that time in our relationship.

My name is Melanie Gomez and I graduated with a BA in print journalism with music management as my minor. I loved music since I was a kid because it was always a way my family and I bonded, as well as a way to express myself on my own time as I got older. I’m not a singer and I don’t play an instrument, so my way of being part of the music industry is by getting to write about the music I love in various reviews and through my concert photography. Another goal? To make people smile.

You can find me on Twitter @melaniexgomez and Instagram @MelanieGomezPhotography. For professional inquires only, please email: MelanieGomez_@hotmail.com